Veteran Ricky Ray isn’t playing like the quarterback Toronto fans have come to know, putting up his second straight clunker in Saturday’s loss to the Roughriders.

Argonauts quarterback Ricky Ray, left, tries to recover a fumble under pressure from Saskatchewan safety Tyron Brackenridge during the second half of Saturday night's game in Regina. The Argos lost 37-9.

It was as if Kerwin Bell, Michael Bishop or Jimmy Kemp had invaded Ray’s body.

This was not the Ricky Ray that Toronto fans have come to know.

This was a veteran quarterback, a future hall of famer at age 34, who looked as lost and abandoned as a turnip truck on a Saskatchewan wheat field.

Since injuries to Chad Owens, Andre Durie and Jason Barnes, Ray has looked like an over-the-hill quarterback, and if this keeps up much longer, people are going to start writing his football epitaph.

The Argos’ hands are tied. They likely can’t make a trade for a receiver because what happens in a few games when Owens, Durie and Barnes are back? They have to weather the storm with a 1-4 record.

Against a pass rush with as much intensity as the Saskatchewan Roughriders threw at the Argos, the pocket at Mosaic Stadium must have seemed like the most dangerous place in the province, next to a uranium mine.

The Argo quarterback, who will turn 35 in October, tossed his second straight clunker, giving him four interceptions in two games.

The 12-year veteran threw an interception on his first pass attempt, which was turned into a touchdown. On the next series, he fumbled the ball and the Roughriders turned that into a touchdown too.

The only silver lining in those black clouds is that the Argos’ East Division rivals are just as bad.

“If we’re going to have a funk early in the year, I guess this is probably the year to do it,” head coach Scott Milanovich said.

Although Ray is still the league leader in passing yards, his production and passing efficiency have been dropping to the point where he soon may no longer be the No. 1-ranked QB in the league.

Is this the worst game he’s played this season?

“Oh, yeah,” Ray said without hesitation. “I’ve got to do a better job of not putting the team in a hole like that.”

In their game preparation, the Argos talk a lot about everyone being accountable and Milanovich said he was pleased by what he heard in the locker room after the game.

“The finger pointing has not begun,” he said.

Ray holds himself to account too.

“Nobody told me to throw that ball or not to hold onto it,” Ray said. “That was me out there. A quarterback has to come out and make good decisions.”

Although he did complete 23 of 35 passes for 221 yards, Ray’s passes are often going into enemy hands. He has more interceptions than touchdown passes in the last three games and this has been Ray’s worst two-game stretch in some time.

However, Ray’s numbers are closely connected to the work of the offensive line, and the Argo O-line was under pressure all game as first-year player Matt Sewell lined up as the blindside tackle against fearsome John Chick. It was Sewell’s first start of the season.

Ray and his fourth-quarter backup, Trevor Harris, were sacked four times, including twice by Chick. For a time, Milanovich thought about bringing in Harris earlier.

“Ricky, I’m sure he will tell you, he probably didn’t play his best game,” Milanovich said. “But that’s what happens when a quarterback gets hit early in the game. That’s what we tried to avoid. Ricky’s better than most when he gets hit, but it does affect every quarterback. It was a recipe for disaster.”

To be fair, Roughriders quarterback Darian Durant was even worse, completing only 9 of 17 passes for 155 yards, no touchdowns and one interception.

Replacement receivers are hard to find, and no one seems to be consistent enough to steady the Argo ship. Terrell Sinkfield hasn’t shown much and has been put on the one-game injured list, and struggling receiver John Chiles was scratched. Darvin Adams is coming along, but slowly.

The latest best replacement part was Maurice Mann, who was playing in his first CFL game in two years. The former Argo hauled in six passes for a game-high 62 yards. However, Mann was only signed to the practice squad on July 16, so he hasn’t had time to develop a connection with Ray.

For the Argos, who go to Montreal to play the Alouettes on Friday, hope is still there because the 1-3 Als are just what the doctor ordered. But the head coach might need a medicine man to find out what’s ailing the team.

“I don’t have any great answers for you on why our offence isn’t executing,” Milanovich said. “The worst thing you can do, in my opinion, is to panic.”

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